Punk Amazonian Tribe Captured In Pictures

Thought to be living the same way as they did 20,000 years ago, National Geographic has released amazing photographs of a punk Amazonian tribe, courtesy of photographer Ricardo Stuckert.

Punkesque hair, plus their scantily clad bodies, habit of throwing things at planes and the fact that they have lived in isolation for tens of thousands of years have caught everyone's imaginations.

Although it's rumoured the tribe has been stealing axes and metal from villages since 1910 - they've never really made contact with anyone. The Brazilians don't even know what the tribe calls itself and so refer to them as the "isolated Indians of the upper Humaitá."

The tribe are living a Neolithic way of life - they live in communal huts, are partial to a bit of nudity and body paint. It is believed to be the same tribe first seen in 2008. Then the tribesman were caught on camera in red body paint, throwing arrows at a plane.

Experts believe the tribe moves around every four years. With a population of 300, they're pretty healthy, living off what they can find in the dense Amazon jungle - mainly corn and bananas.

Brazilian photographer Ricardo Stuckert took the iconic shot by chance when his chopper was diverted due to bad weather. He was travelling across his native Brazil, documenting the many tribes that live in the Amazon. He discovered the punk tribe by chance when they attacked his helicopter.

"I felt like I was a painter in the last century," he said. "To think that in the 21st century, there are still people who have no contact with civilisation, living like their ancestors did 20,000 years ago - it's a powerful emotion." The tribe is under threat - just like the Amazon jungle itself - from illegal logging crews, drug traffickers and gold prospectors, even if they're not aware themselves of the danger. Stuckert warns that the tribe could be wiped off the face of the planet - and we wouldn't even know.